beIN Sport secures rights to U.S. road qualifying matches

Before too long, American soccer fans will have memorized that beIN Sport channel number on their programming guide.

If you want to watch Landon Donovan and the U.S. team on the road for World Cup qualifiers, you'll have to have the beIN Sport channel.

Photo: Getty Images

The newest American soccer network guaranteed that much on Wednesday by securing television rights to every single US national team away match in 2014 World Cup qualifying, including the hexagonal round.

Already the home for all South American World Cup qualifiers, beIN Sport will also be the destination for CONCACAF World Cup qualifying matches after also securing TV rights to every single match for all other national teams in the region with the exception of Mexico.

The new network has already made waves in the US soccer television landscape by claiming rights to Spain's La Liga, Italy's Serie A and France's Ligue 1.

Wednesday's latest rights announcement brings an end to the uncertainty that has surrounded recent USMNT road qualifiers. A variety of networks have carried select matches over the years with others being available only on a pay-per-view basis.

While the US Soccer Federation holds TV rights to matches on US soil, broadcast rights to away matches are controlled by respective host federations, a set-up which has contributed to the inconsistency in coverage.

USMNT coverage on beIN Sport starts with the upcoming visit to "The Office" on Sept. 7, when
Jurgen Klinsmann's
squad visits Kingston, Jamaica.